ASL-friendly El Paso fundraiser spotlights working dogs, training, community inclusion

Dogs in training, pet owners in line for vaccines, and a crowd of roughly 25 vendors filled The Yard Beer Garden on Saturday as El Paso’s working-dog community used a fundraiser to show how structure, socialization and public access can serve everyday dogs, not just sport animals.

The event ran from noon to 4 p.m. on May 9 and brought together Barkerhaus Kennels and Wild West Working Dogs for an ASL-friendly gathering built around education, outreach and support for ongoing training. El Paso Animal Services drew early interest by offering free microchips for the first 50 attendees, while Vista Hills Animal Hospital provided low-cost vaccines and other pet wellness services. For families managing energetic dogs, that mix mattered: the day combined practical care, training exposure and a setting where dogs could work around people, noise and activity.

Tiffany Schneider, president of Wild West Working Dogs and owner of Barkerhaus Kennels, tied the fundraiser to Allison Miles, the club secretary who died in December and had handled much of the group’s fundraising and marketing work. The memorial purpose gave the event a personal center, but the format kept the focus on what the club says it does best: training dogs and building a broader public understanding of working-dog roles. That included demonstrating a model that makes dog events more accessible to attendees who might not normally feel included in pet-focused gatherings.

Barkerhaus Kennels says its El Paso operation dates to 1935 and sits on a two-acre site with 52 runs, a large exercise yard and a training field. The kennel also says it is ASL friendly and that staff can communicate in American Sign Language. Wild West Working Dogs, a small Schutzhund and working-dog club near Fort Bliss, says it united in 2012 and trains in Schutzhund and IGP, search and rescue, narcotics and bomb detection, K-9 patrol, personal protection and more. That mix of disciplines shows why working-dog events often resonate with owners of hyperenergetic dogs: they are about giving drive a job, not just burning off energy.

The El Paso fundraiser also fit into a longer local trialing culture. USCA South Central Region listings show Wild West Working Dogs events at Barkerhaus locations in 2025, including a February 21 title trial in El Paso that offered IGP1-3, BH-VT, GPR1-3, TR1-3 and OB1-3, and an October 24 fall RH trial. At The Yard Beer Garden, which can handle large groups at 14261 Montana Ave., that same training world was packaged for a wider public, with outreach, services and access placed on the same footing as the dogs themselves.